On the 5th of October LOF organised a panel discussion, during this evening we had an inspiring conversation on sustainability within universities. The panel members were Nesha Narain, representative of Groenpact Jongerenplatform and Sr. advisor circular foodsystems for the municipality of Amsterdam, Tamara Luiken, former council member and portfolio holder sustainability for the central student council of the UU and Ivar Maas, head of the Sustainability Office of the VU.

The panel discussion was split into three major themes; Impact and Priority, Allies and Resistance and the Role of Participation.

Impact and Priority

As you might have noticed, the time you can spend on your council work is limited. In order to maximise your impact, it can be helpful to identify certain focus points. Try to actively determine what impact you want to make. Sometimes it is more valuable to focus on smaller projects. It might be helpful to place changes in an educational context. Also, do not be disheartened when things do not work out within your year, changes take time. Therefore, work together with policy officers and your successors to guarantee long term success!

Allies and Resistance

Oftentimes organisations do not want to make a choice, however making no choice is also a choice. Find people who have the luxury to change as it is incredibly frustrating for people trying to change but are unable. Rather use the organisation to shift the baseline and make sustainable choices easy. Remember that you can find allies in unlikely places based on personal interest.

The Role of Participation It is nice to know what changes to make, but how do you influence this in your year(s) in participation? Ask critical questions, you have the right to give (un)wanted advice. For instance you can advise the board to look into the university’s carbon footprint to see where changes can be made, like TU Delft did. Put sustainability on the agenda, the board has to deal with the topics on the agenda. Use the minutes to legalise the commitments the board makes. Use things as the budget or strategic plans as leverage, this way you can influence decisions normally out of your scope.